HomeNewsBriefEl Salvador President Denies Zetas Train Street Gangs
BRIEF

El Salvador President Denies Zetas Train Street Gangs

BARRIO 18 / 7 MAR 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

El Salvador President Mauricio Funes has rejected claims the country's street gangs work with Mexico criminal group the Zetas and denied his administration is being extorted by gang leaders over the government-orchestrated gang truce as political pressure builds over the controversial agreement.

Funes dismissed claims made in a recent report from Washington DC-based International Assessment and Strategy Center (IASC) that the Zetas had possibly trained factions of the Salvadoran street gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) in El Salvador, saying there was "no evidence to make us think that," reported El Diario de Hoy.

The president also denied that gang leaders were forcing the government to pay them so the MS-13 and its rivals, the Barrio 18, maintain a ceasefire, which led to a 40 percent drop in the murder rate in El Salvador after it was implemented in March 2012.

"It is not true the gangs are blackmailing or extorting the government [over the truce]," he said.

InSight Crime Analysis

The Zetas - mara question is a sensitive and unresolved issue. Funes has been quoted on the record in the past as saying the Zetas have been "exploring" possible alliances with criminal groups in his nation, including with street gangs. And the United Nations, in a recent report (pdf), talked about Mexico's organized criminal groups moving south with the help of local allies. (See video below)

However, there is no solid evidence to illustrate that this has produced any steady institutional working relationship between street gangs and transnational criminal organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras, the three Central American countries with the strongest mara presence.  

The irony is that the above-cited IASC report, which InSight Crime reviewed, actually downplayed the Zetas - gang connections. And its author, Douglas Farah, told InSight Crime that he saw more evidence of the mara connections with El Salvador transport groups. To be sure, the report emphasized attempts by certain gang cells, known as "clicas," to become more involved in the drug trade on their own terms. 

Funes' comments also come at a time of increasing doubts over whether the gang truce can last and whether it is an effective tactic in reducing the violence and criminality associated with the gangs over the long term. 

The truce has been undermined by a recent increase in murders and suggestions that the true murder rate is being concealed by the practice of "disappearing" dead bodies. Earlier this month, a prominent opponent of the truce, who was used as a source for the IASC report, claimed his close colleague had been murdered in retaliation for his criticisms of the truce.

The report also claimed the truce has caused tensions between the MS-13 leaders in prison and those on the streets.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

GUATEMALA / 7 FEB 2022

In this run-down neighborhood in Guatemala City, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) does not exist. And yet, there are still a…

EL SALVADOR / 11 MAY 2021

A new report suggests women are increasingly playing an active role in the extortion activities of Central American gangs --…

BARRIO 18 / 29 NOV 2022

Honduras declared a state of exception as extortion cases rise, suspending constitutional rights in cities and deploying thousands of troops.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…